My Japanese in-laws live in an apartment in Tokyo, and the only gardening they do is to prune the potted eggplant on the balcony. So, imagine my surprise when one day my father-in-law pulls out the biggest pair of branch cutters I’ve ever seen. Those must be some eggplants, I thought. Then he opens the kitchen window and matter-of-factly hacks a branch off the neighbor’s fruit-laden kumquat tree, growing right outside. Like the orangutans who poke sticks into termite nests to fish out a tasty snack, a healthy dose of opportunism, combined with the right tools, can make for interesting primate behavior.

Perhaps my father-in-law would appreciate a pair of gardening scissors from Otake Sangyo, Co., Ltd. They are made with premium quality steel, manufactured using traditional Japanese iron-making technology. Their blades have the reputation for being as sharp as samurai swords, making them ideal for bonsai pruning, flower arranging, and, perhaps, opportunistic kumquat harvesting.